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Patient Men

While fishing here and there in the streams of Tuolumne County and in the Merced River, I’ve been reminded that patience is a precious commodity among the human race. Personally, I could use a lot more of it. I’m grateful for the illustrative power of being patient as learned while fishing.

Yesterday I ran down to our stream by our house with Jackson in tow. He was playing in the dirt while I threw the line in for a while. I actually had a good size fish on the line right there in our little stream. It got off. My line got snagged right over the deeper water. I looked at Jackson. I looked at my line. I looked at Jackson starting to slide down the hill. I looked at my line – dumb. I dropped my pole and grabbed Jackson. We went home and I felt convicted.

As powerful an illustration for patience fishing can be, sometimes us men need to put up our hobbies and focus on our families. We need to be patient with our wives and children. We need to lead our own hearts and then the hearts of those we love with consistency and gentleness. We must seek out our God for His comfort and confidence. He will strengthen us to face our lives with joy and courage, endurance and kindness.

Father, please give the men of Tuolumne County and Merced County patience day-by-day. May we lead with love and endurance. May we make one small decision at a time to love instead of be right, to ask instead of tell, to trust God instead of “manning up” and ask God for courage to be real and to be really there for our families. We must be honest, but our honesty must be gentle. Please give us courage to wait and be present for our wives and children, for our parents and siblings, for our friends and neighbors, for our co-workers and employees, our employers. May we present Christ to all we interact with through being patient and consistent men.